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USC's John Peters, doctor and researcher, mourned

A longtime researcher at the University of Southern California has died. John Peters studied the health impacts of air pollution.

Perhaps doctor and researcher John Peters’ best known project in Southern California isn't over yet.

The Children's Health Study has followed 11,000 Southland kids since the early 1990s to investigate the causes of childhood respiratory diseases.

Peters was that project's principal researcher, and with it he founded USC's Environmental Health Sciences Center. The results of the study have informed regional air officials as they've tightened limits on pollution, including at the ports of LA and Long Beach.

Peters' career began with groundbreaking studies of young people and smoking. He later documented that workplace exposure to pollution harmed granite workers and rubber workers.

John Peters died a year and a half after doctors diagnosed him with pancreatic cancer. He leaves a wife, four children, and a newly-established fund at USC that aims to support the work of younger scientists in his field.